Apparatus for maintaining the drive belts or cords of spinning and twisting machines



Sept. 27, 1960 w. STAHLECKER ETAL 2,953,894

APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING THE DRIVE BELTS OR CORDS 0F SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l/VVE/VTORS W/LHELM STAHLECKER HANS STAHLECKER BY A TTUK/VZYS KE MG 4 2 t 9 w n, .n 3 5 W n w h W S LN Sept. 27, 1960 v w. STAHLEC R ETIAL APPARATUS FOR MAINTA I THE DRIVE BE CORDS 0F spnmmc o TWISTING mom Filed Dec. 11, 1957 INVENTORS WILHELM SFIHLECKER HANS STAHLECKFR A TTOAIVEYS nite States APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING THE DRIVE BELTS OR CORDSOF SPINNING AND TWIST- lNG MACHINES Filed Dec. 11, 1957, Ser. No. 702,172

Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 14, 1956 Claims. (Cl. 57-105) The present invention relates to an apparatus for maintaining the drive belts or cords of spinning and twisting machines under the proper tension.

The spindles of modern spinning and twisting machines are preferably driven either individually or in groups by means of flexible belts or, in some cases, by cords. A uniform tension of the belts or 'cords, and thus a uniform drive of all of the spindles is generally provided for by tension pulleys which are acted upon by weights or springs.

The belt or cord tension, in turn, depends upon the size of the torque which is required for driving the spindles. Because of the greater air friction, this torque is much greater when the spindles are driven at a high speed than the torque required at low speeds.

In a spinning or doubling mill, it is today practically impossible to adjust the tension of the spindle belts to the torques required in each case since the drive of the spindles of a single machine requires so many tension devices that considerable time and effort by experienced personnelwould be required to service .allof them. The tension devices of .the drive belts or cords are therefore usually adjusted to the greatest required torque, even though this means that the belts will often be tightened much more than necessary and therefore produce an unduly high pressure and friction upon the bearings.

it is an object of the present invention to provide novel and very simple means for adjusting the tension .of the spindle belts or cords very easily and quickly to the re.- spective required torques.

A feature for attaining this and other objects of the invention consists in the provision of adjustable hydraulic or pneumatic means for tightening the belts or cords and for maintaining them under a proper and uniform tension. These new means permit a quick adjustment of the belt or cord tension at "any time in accordance with the respective requirements, and they also. permit such adjust ment for all or some of the spindles of a machine to be controlled from one point. I

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following detailed description thereof, particularly when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a side view, partly in cross section, of a four-spindle belt drive with a tension pulley which is operated by pneumatic pressure;

Fig. 2 shows aplan view, partly in cross four-spindle belt drive according to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a side view, partly in cross section, of a one-spindle belt drive with a tension pulley which is likewise operated by pneumatic pressure;

section, of the Patented Sept. 27, 19eo v one-spindle belt drive similar to that illustrated Fig. 3,

but with a tension pulley which is operated by hydraulic pressure. 7

Referring to the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate a normal four-spindle belt drive. However, in place of the usual supporting rod for the tension-pulley bracket or rocker, the present invention provides a hollow pipe 2 which contains .a flexible hose 3 which is maintained under pneumatic pressure. The bracket 1 of tension pulley 5 is pivotably mounted on pipe 2. A tension lever 9 is pivotably suspended within a slot 6 in pipe 2 and carries on its upper end a pressure plate 4 for each individual tension pulley 5, while the lower end of lever 9 engages with bracket 1 to pivot the same or to be pivoted thereby. Pressure plate 4 engages with hose 3 and partly depresses the same,as illustrated particularly in Fig. 2. Consequently, when hose 3 is under pressure, it will act upon plate 4 and thereby pivot tension lever 99 which, in turn, will pivot bracket 1 with tension pulley 5 thereon about the axis of pipe 2 in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 1, and thereby tighten belt 7. It is thus possible to maintain all of belts 7 of the machine under an equal tension so that all of. spindles 8 will run at an equal speed. By increasing or reducing the air pressure in hose 3 it is easily possible to vary the tension of belts 7 very quickly and uniformly and to adjust the same so that the belt will drive the spindles without slipping, but at such a tension that the operator can easily stop the rotation of the spindles. Since the new tension device operates without weights or mechanical springs, but only under pneumatic pressure of a resilient hose, such pressure is very soft and yielding with the result that there will never be any undue tension or friction upon 'the belt, and the belt will have a longer life and run very quietly and smoothly.

The flexible hose 3 may be pumped up to the desired pressure by means of an ordinary bicycle pump which may be attached to an inlet alve'at the end of the hose. A normal pressure gauge may be applied for periodically checking the pressure within hose 3, or such gauge may be permanently connected to the hose so as to indicate the pressure in the hose at any time. Such flexible pressure hose can today be manufactured relatively inexpensively and so as to have a very long life.

Tension pulley 5 may be mounted on bracket 1 in the tension pulley 12 is provided which is mounted on a bracket 14 which forms a two-armed lever and is pivotable about an axis 13. The rear side of the spindle frame 15 carries a tubular container 16 with a flexible hose 17 therein which contains a pneumatic or-hydraulic pressure medium. A pressure plate 18 for each pulley unit is horizontally slidable within container 16 and in engagement with hose 17. The central arm of pressure plate 18 engages with the upper free arm of bracket 14 r so that a pressure within hose 17 will be transmitted through pressure plate 18 to bracket 14, pivoting the same about its axis 13 and thereby pressing pulley 12 downwardly in the direction shown in Fig. 3 by the arrow to maintain belt 11 under the proper tension.

Aside from the advantages previously described, the belt tightener as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 has certain additional advantages. In the one-spindle belt drive, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the belt is guided so as to be able to run in either direction. The direction of rotation of the spindles may therefore be simply reversed by changing the direction of rotation of drive shaft 10. This would mean that the tension pulley 12 would lie atone time within the slack end of the belt and at the other time within the taut end. However, it is a well-known fact that the best power transmission will normally be attained if the tension pulley lies within the slack end of the belt. The present invention, on the other hand, permits the same power transmission to be attained regardless of whether the tension pulley-engages with the slack or the taut end of the belt. This maybe attained simply by increasing the pressure in hose 17 when the tension roller engages with the taut end of the belt by about 30% over the pressure which is normally required when the belt runs in the opposite direction and when its slack end engages with the tension pulley.

For well-known reasons, it is usually recommended to release the drive belts or cords of their tension when the machine is to stand still for longer periods of time. This usually requires that the belts or cords be taken 011 the tension pulleys. However, since such removal and replacement of the numerous belts is complicated and timeconsuming, it is often omitted and the belts are left under tension.

According to the present invention, however, the belts may all be released very quickly by a reduction or total release of the hydraulic or pneumatic pressure within the flexible hose 17 It is also easily possible within a very short time to replace the presusre within the hose and thus to place the belts under the required tension" Thus, for example, if the pressure medium consists of air, the hose may be quickly pumped up by means of a small conventional electric pump.

The tubular member 16 which takes up the flexible hose 17 may be formed partly by a suitable recess of substantially sesmicircular cross section in the spindle frame and a troughlike sheet metal member which may be secured to the spindle frame so as tobe removable therefrom, for example, by means of a few brackets 161 which are secured to the frame by the flanges of some of the spindles 8, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Instead of transmitting the hydraulic or pneumatic pressure upon the tension pulleys by means of a flexible hose and pressure plates, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, it may sometimes be preferable to use pistons which are slidable in cylinders and are likewise operated by a hydraulic or pneumatic pressure medium which may be controlled from a central point. Such a system is diagrammatically illustrated in Pig. in an arrangement which is otherwise similar to that shown in Fig. 3. For each spindle, a separate cylinder is mounted on frame in which a piston 20 is slidable, the piston rod 19 of which engages with the upper arm of a two-arm lever 14' so as to pivot the lower arm downwardly on which the tension pulley 12, as shown in Fig. 3, is mounted and thus to tighten the belt 11. The

respective pressure medium may be supplied to the various cylinders through a common pipe line 21 which may connect any suitable number or all of the cylinders of one machine.

Thus, it is possible to control the tension of all of the belts orcords of one machine from one central point either by connecting all of the belt tighteners to one hydraulicor pneumatic circuit in the form of flexible hose 3 or 17 or of a pipe line 21, or to divide the entire system of one machine into any suitable number of groups of belt tighteners which are connected through separate pressure transmitting means in the form of several flexible hose 3 or 17 or of several pipe lines 21 to one central control point or to several control points.

While in the specific embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the drawings the spindles are driven by flat belts it is to be understood, particularly also with reference to the following claims, that the term belt is intended to include any other type of belt, including cords or strings as frequently used in spinning, twisting, and similar machines.

Although our invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, we wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiments, but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed our invention, what we claim is:

1. An apparatus for tightening the driving belts of spinning and twisting machines, comprising means for supporting a belt, and adjustable fluid-pressure means adapted to act upon said supporting means for tightening said belt, said supporting means comprising at least one pivotable tension pulley, pivot means for supporting said pulley, said fluid pressure means comprising a tubular conduit having an opening, a flexible hose within said conduit adapted to contain a fluid pressure medium, and at least one member engaging with said hose within said conduit and extending therefrom through said opening and into engagement with said pivot means for supporting said pulley to pivot said pivot means under the action of said pressure medium within said hose upon said member.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein a plurality of pivotable tension pulleys for supporting a plurality of belts and a plurality of hose engaging members are provided, each of said members engaging with a different tension pulley but all of them engaging with said hose so as to be uniformly acted upon by said pressure medium.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said pivot means for supporting said pulley comprises means pivotably mounted on said conduit containing said flexible hose.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said pivot means for supporting said pulley comprises a twoarmed lever pivotably mounted on a stationary pivot, one arm of said lever supporting said pulley and the other arm being in engagement with the free end of said hose engaging member outside of said conduit.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular conduit is comprised in part by the frame of said machine.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said tubular conduit is composed of a stationary part forming part of the frame of said machine and is further composed of a removable part so as to permit said conduit to be opened for access to said flexible hose.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6, further comprising at least one spindle to be driven by said belt, said removable part of said conduit being removably secured to and held by said spindle.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 5, wherein said opening is in said part of said conduit comprised by said frame.

9. An apparatus for tightening the driving belts of spinning and twisting machines, comprising means for supporting a belt, and adjustable fluid-pressure means adapted to act upon said supporting means for tightening said belt, wherein said supporting means comprising a pivotable tension pulley, said fluid pressure means comprising a cylinder, a piston slidablewithin said cylinder and having a piston rod extending from said cylinder and into operative connection with said tension pulley,

' and a conduit adapted to contain a pressure medium and connected to said cylinder to allow said pressure tending through said opening and operatively connecting medium to pass into said cylinder to act upon said piston. said flexible hose and said supporting means.

10. An apparatus for tightening the driving belts of spinning and twisting machines, comprising at least one References Cited in the file 0f thls Patent tension pulley for supporting a belt, fluid pressure means 5 UNITED ST T T for acting upon said tension pulley for tightening said v belt, said fluid pressure means comprising a tubular conduit having an opening, a flexible hose within said 0011- duit adapted to contain a fluid pressure medium, support- 2689448 Wmslow at Sept. 21, 1954 ing means for said tension pulley, means for pivotally 10 FOREIGN PATENTS mounting said supporting means on said tubular conduit,

said fluid pressure means further comprising means ex- 487,481 Great Bntam June 1938 

